


Next to You

by Lumieerie



Category: The Tarot Sequence - K.D. Edwards
Genre: Alleyway blowjob, Building Relationship, Companion Bond Feelings, M/M, blowjob, or so we thought, unrequited pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-03-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:27:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23350162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lumieerie/pseuds/Lumieerie
Summary: All three of them started at once:“I can explain-”“Brand, I-”“Brandon, it’s alright.”Brand and Rune both looked at Addam.
Relationships: Addam Saint Nicholas/Brandon Saint John, Brandon Saint John/other, Rune Saint John/Addam Saint Nicholas, Rune Saint John/Brandon Saint John/Addam Saint Nicholas
Comments: 5
Kudos: 25





	Next to You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Cerylia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cerylia/gifts).



> VERY LOOSELY Based off of this prompt from Cery on discord: pre ot3 Brand at the green docks, getting a blowjob from idk someone he picked up, checks his phone to make sure rune's safe and at home and stuff, and cant figure out why he's thinking of rune the entire rest of the time

Brand groaned, his head pushing back against the concrete wall of the building. He breathed out at length and peered down at the stranger on their knees before him. The stranger has blue eyes with flecks of gray, and their hair is soft, pullable brown and he wants to fist his fingers through it and throat-fuck them. He wanted to caress their face and praise them. He wanted to moan out their name and show them a good time. The sight intoxicated him, but not for the reasons it should have.

The stranger wasn’t Rune. 

He closed his eyes and imagined Rune. Rune’s lips wrapped around his cock and holding his hips in place. Rune’s eyes as they watered as he took in more than he could handle. Rune’s noises that were offered in return for Brand’s moans. 

It’s not Rune and Brand forces himself to stop thinking about him. Instead, Brand murmured a nameless praise and rubbed the back of the stranger’s hair. They were doing good. Really. But why did Brand’s mind keep wandering to Rune? 

He knew why. 

Last night their bond had been left open during Rune’s bout of intimacy with Addam. Not a problem, seriously. Except Brand had felt the way Rune shuddered through their bond and had whined when he felt an orgasm shoot through him. The companion bond had gotten out of hand but Brand had woken up with the memory and, ashamedly, gotten off again. God, he felt pathetic. Thinking about Rune and Addam and running away to the Green Docks for some relief while still thinking about them- 

A gasp escaped Brand as the stranger swirled their tongue and hummed. He bit down on his lip and squeezed his eyes tighter. His mind supplied a different picture, now instead of Rune he thought about Addam. Damn it. He imagined Addam’s hands wrapped around him, lips pressed against the back of his neck. Then his mind had the audacity to add Rune back into the mix. Rune sucking his cock while Addam pushed against Brand’s ass, silently asking to fuck him. 

Of all the things to want, Brand had picked the one thing he could never have. 

Rocking his hips forward, Brand swallowed dryly. He convinced himself that he was enjoying the blowjob. It was pleasurable and served its purpose: to get him off. His thoughts argued, however, and deep down Brand knew that it would be better if he were in the arms of the two men he was crushing on. The two men he couldn’t have. 

Something tugged at him, an invisible string demanding his attention, and Brand’s eyes snapped open when he realized that a wave of jealousy filled the companion bond. Glancing at the entrance to the alley, his eyes widened. Dread filled him at the same time as ecstasy consumed him. 

Both Addam and Rune stood just in the way of people who walked by, their eyes glued on Brand and the stranger. Embarrassment flooded Brand’s mind but he didn’t stop thrusting his hips forward into the stranger’s welcoming mouth. He locked eyes with Rune and flushed red, consumed with desire and anxiety and he couldn’t help himself. 

Lips curled inward, Brand moaned a string of Irish curses before Rune’s name filled the alleyway. The stranger moaned in response, the vibrations pulling Brand’s orgasm from him like the cock of a trigger. Smooth and quick, ending with a pop as the stranger pulled away and wiped at their lips. 

The sight would have made Brand come again if it were Rune or Addam-

Rune and Addam. 

He cleared his throat and then coughed awkwardly, eyes sliding over to the two men who were making their way into the alleyway. The stranger had the decency to get the hell out of there as Brand tucked himself back into his jeans. He tried to reach out and pull the bond up, wall his emotions in and pretend he’s dreaming. 

The silence that followed when Rune and Addam stopped in front of him spoke volumes. He didn’t have an excuse and even if he did, neither would believe him. He was screwed. 

All three of them started at once:

“I can explain-” 

“Brand, I-”

“Brandon, it’s alright.”

Brand and Rune both looked at Addam. 

A mixture of relief and doubt filled the companion bond. Brand didn’t understand why Rune seemed relieved to hearing his boyfriend say that, but he doubted what Addam said was true. He averted his gaze, finding the asphalt of the street more tempting than anything in the world. 

“Please don’t pretend to be okay with this for my sake,” he managed after another long, stressed minute of silence. “I moaned out your boyfriend’s name, there’s no way you could possibly be okay with that.” He pointedly called Rune Addam’s boyfriend to distance himself from the knowledge that Rune is his best friend, companion, and charge. A love so secret that he’d once denied himself from thinking about Rune so openly. Years spent hiding that part of the bond now wasted because he’d forgotten to cut that invisibly, non-lying, thread. 

Companions are trained from birth to be unrelenting forces of nature for each other.Brand was always prepared for the worst-case scenario, paranoid built up inside him that lingered subtly through the years. Always ready for a fight, even in the midst of vulnerability. So when Addam touched his shoulder, Brand surprised himself and Rune with a violent flinch. 

His mouth opened, to apologize or yell at Addam, Brand didn’t know, but he stopped himself when hands wrapped around his own. His hands that had previously been splayed out in brown locks that mocked Rune’s own. 

“This isn’t how we wanted this to go,” Addam starts, accent drawled out. His voice sounded like a mixture of nerves and calmness. “But Hero,” he paused and glanced at Rune. Then back to Brand. “Rune and I have wanted to talk to you about this for a long time, but you kind of pushed us over the edge when you came here instead of to us last night.”

What? Confusion became shock and Brand’s mind danced around an echo of Addam’s words. Hope momentarily flared within him only to quickly be snuffed out. He blinked at Addam once, twice, and then he looked at where their fingers were locked together. 

An almost shy reaction filtered through to Brand, making him cast a glance at Rune. He and Addam had thought about this before? They’d thought about him with them before? A hesitant hope flickered through Brand once more. 

“How long,” he asked despite himself. They could talk more about this- should talk more about this, but his hands were warmed by Addam’s and the companion bond was humming with Rune’s shy urgency. Both feelings almost overwhelmed Brand to the point of forgetting that they’d caught him in the Green Docks with a stranger who looked outwardly like Rune. 

Rune finally moved from his spot, stepping closer to Brand and putting a hand on his shoulder. It burned like a candle’s song, soft and beckoning, welcoming. Brand didn’t react like how he had with Addam. “Since the Westlands,” Rune breathed as quietly as the candle he portrayed himself as. 

They’d showered together, Brand had been there. Brand had listened to them murmuring to themselves but hadn’t heard. Had they talked about including Brand during that time? The thought ignited something inside him and for the first time since he’d noticed Addam and Rune in the alleyway, Brand exhaled an emotion he’d kept hidden for so long: love. 

A cracked fragility filled Brand’s voice when he spoke next, “You’re not mad? That was only one of the scattered questions and phrases that escaped him. For all that he was smart, Brand was a wilted flower of anticipation. If Addam and Rune allowed him, he would become a questionnaire of anxiety and curiosity as he worked to understand the two of them and how they’d come to this outcome. 

“No,” Rune sounded so gentle as if consoling a frightened animal. Brand certainly felt like one. “Brand, I’m sorry,” he added. “We would have asked sooner but you were gone and when I realized you were here I-” he stopped himself. Rune’s eyes glittered orange, emotions always brought his aspect out. 

“He didn’t understand why you were punishing him,” Addam chipped in. “He thought you wanted to get back at us for keeping the connection open, but he didn’t expect you to find someone to blow off steam with. Our hero was jealous.” A tease edged in Addam’s voice, but when Brand captured his burgundy eyes, he could see that Addam was a little upset too. 

They came to Green Docks to stop Brand. 

He let go of Addam’s hands in favor of dragging Rune closer, into a crushing hug. “I’m sorry,” he whispered against Rune’s shoulder, shaking his head at himself. He couldn’t imagine what that must have reminded Rune of, the ghosted feeling of someone touching Rune against his will, lips wrapped around him- Brand wanted to hit himself. He had purposefully left the companion bond open, he had wanted to get back at Rune for this, he had been blinded by that feeling that he forgot that Rune felt safe with him and Addam and no one else. 

This was the second time he’d done that. 

“Stop,” Rune cried with a raw voice, tightening his grip on Brand. “You said it yourself: we don’t fight. We also don’t do this,” he didn’t need to specify what this was. “We wanted to court you properly, together. Not like this. We wanted to talk to you and then Addam said we should surprise you with-” 

Brand liked to think of himself as _not_ impulsive. Today he proved himself wrong as he dragged Rune into a kiss. They had kissed before, twice. Once when Rune was drunk and Brand pushed him away, and a second time when Brand kissed Rune’s forehead. Different situations, different kisses, but neither had been like this. 

A press of lips triggered a domino effect of feelings. Fire surrounded Brand, pulled him closer to the center of a solar flare. A kindled fire crackled around him, it dragged him down further and further until he melted into the embodiment of desert and heat. Hot and pleasant and so, so much. Brand’s only witnessed a thunderstorm from Lord Tower’s aspect, but now he’s corroding in the poetic fury of Rune’s own aspect. The sun made whole, completed by Brand’s own protection. 

A low whistle sounded to their right and Brand gently pushed against Rune, pulling away to see the way Addam looked at them. Flushed and lips parted in a wanting breath, Addam looked undone. Addam looked at the two of them like he was seeing romance for the first time. 

A second impulsive decision made, Brand practically fell into Addam’s arms as he kissed him too, leaving the sun for the cool press of metal that symbolized justice. Where Rune was hot and desperate, Addam was cool and leisure. Brand felt like he was dethawing. Steam replaced the heat and Brand sighed, content in Addam’s arms. 

Through the companion bond, Brand felt Rune’s joy. It echoed through his kiss and must have somehow passed onto Addam because his arms tightened around Brand. Brand hummed, wondering if it were possible to get drunk off of affection and touch. Maybe it would be possible with both Addam and Rune. The realization that, eventually, he would be able to test that idea out consumed him. Two kisses shared with these men and Brand was already smitten. 

The feeling of being complete never meant something until this moment. 

“We’ll talk about this later,” Addam stated as he ended their kiss and grabbed for Rune’s hand. “Properly, this time, please, because I don’t think our Hero could handle losing you like we almost did just now.”

Brand liked how Addam referred to Rune as _their_ Hero. Then he arched an eyebrow. Had they really thought a stranger would… Of course they thought that. Brand shook his head. He’d spent the rest of the day apologizing to them. Though he wouldn’t apologize for the way things turned out. 


End file.
